We’ve all had our hot mess moments. Hurdling off the tracks of life is just part of navigating your existential railway system. We’ve all felt lost, emotionally stranded, and buried our heads in bar bathroom toilets after a night of overzealous imbibing. We’ve all had moments of introspection where the truth has revealed itself to us. Gazing at your eyeliner-smeared aspect, you admit through maniacal laughter— “I’m a trainwreck.”

So there’s no surprise that the TV and film postergirl of the zeitgeist mimics these themes in our pop cultural collective unconscious. Welcome to the 21st century: the age of the trainwreck. Television and movies are currently ruled by this character [...]